


The Difference

by Cyane



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Emotional Manipulation, Human Bill Cipher, Insane Bill Cipher, Mental Health Issues, Post-Weirdmageddon, Short One Shot, Spoilers, Suicidal Thoughts, Timeline What Timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-22
Updated: 2016-08-22
Packaged: 2018-08-10 08:23:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7837465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cyane/pseuds/Cyane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Or Bill becomes human after the apocalypse and Dipper has the chance to end it, once and for all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Difference

Bill Cipher woke up on a rock in the middle of a forest, two days after the apocalypse had ended.

The first thing he noticed was that he had changed from his demon form into his human form. His disgusting suit of human meat that he hadn't worn in decades and decades. He was weak, and he was tired, and he was hungry once again. And without a doubt, he had lost everything.

The Pines family really was something, after all. 

Slowly he stood up, cringing as he dusted rubble off of his shirt. 

A human. He had been reduced to the life of a mortal, doomed to a short life of misery and torture. 

With a sigh, he sank back to his knees and thought for a moment. He couldn't be older than nineteen human years, in this form. If he got his hair a bit dirty, so the yellow wasn't quite so luminescent, and brushed half of it over where one eye should be... well, he might just pass for normal. Then he could manage to survive a while. 

But what was _the point?_

He had lost.

It wasn't until he felt hot tears dripping from his chin that he realized he was crying. Mortifying. It appeared that along with the body of a human, came the emotions of a human. Had he really been reduced to this pathetic, blubbery sight? 

There was a noise from the nearby bushes and immediately Bill sprang up from his knees like a cornered beast, his one eye darting around and his hair rising from the back of his neck. And there it was- pure terror. 

Emotions were awful.

So instead of feeling them and cowering like the mess he was, Bill grinned an insane, sharp, completely mental grin full of sharp teeth. The look in his eye must've looked mad. So he smiled and smiled and wanted to laugh and cry his heart out. Because he had a heart, now.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are..." He purred, trying to conceal the shaking in his voice with raw glee. 

He had turned in a full circle when he saw it. 

Pine tree. It was Dipper Pines.

The teenager was staring at him with wide eyes, although he looked more focused than surprised or scared. For a moment, Bill envied him. Dipper had been learning to control emotions for years, and Bill was just barely beginning to feel them again. 

He froze and met Dipper's gaze, still grinning. 

"Well, well, well, well, well, well," He spat. "If it isn't the hero of Gravity Falls! Give it up for the Pine Tree, everyone!" 

Dipper pursed his lips. "I didn't... why are you- why are you human, Bill?" Well, Bill had to give the kid some credit. Even for a scrawny, anxious loner like him, he was holding his stand pretty well. In fact, Bill was a little worried that he himself would be the first to crack.

"I've got lots of forms, kid." Bill snapped. "What's wrong? Think that just because I've got a mortal body, I'll start showing some _empathy_?! HA!" And he forced himself to burst into laughter, but it was a whole lot more believable before he lost control of his expression. He could only hope that he didn't look completely pathetic.

The boy just scowled. "You should've died! The apocalypse is over- _Weirdmageddon_ is over!" 

"Then why not just kill me now?" Bill retorted. 

Dipper's scowl faded into surprise. After the silence had been stretched out for long enough, Bill finally smirked, and crossed his arms around his chest in a way that was completely _not_ defensive.

"See, kid? You're weak. You can't kill anyone. You probably couldn't even if you _tried_ , but going by your sympathetic expression and puppy-dog-eyes, I'm guessing you can't even do that."

Why was he pushing it? Well, what did he have to loose?

"I should kill you." Dipper said stiffly, but he didn't step any closer. Bill sank to his knees, and pretended to bow his head in defeat. "Go ahead, Dipper Pines. You've got me cornered. Want to make sure another apocalypse doesn't happen? Kill me. Want to make sure your family is safe? Kill me. Want to make sure Gravity Falls stays sane?!" At this point Bill was screaming. " _Kill me!_ "

For another moment the only sound to be heard was Bill's heavy breathing and the leaves tumbling through the wind. 

Dipper took a few steps closer and sat down in front of Bill, crossing his legs. 

Oh, yes, Bill envied the boy. 

"So you lost and you don't want to go on in a world that isn't your own," Dipper stated. Bill looked up and mimicked his position, crossing his own incredibly long, thin legs and grinning.  
"You _are_ the smart one, aren't you? I always liked you more than the rest... but Sixer really was a good edition..."

Nothing. Not even a twitch.

He remorsefully thought back to when Dipper was a curling, sobbing mess of panicked nerves and worry. He missed that kid. Bill wasn't exactly fond of this newfound, mature young man in front of him. He was holding his composure, he was- or was at least acting- to be relaxed... 

Who was the sobbing mess of panicked nerves now? 

Fine. 

Bill gave another maniac grin. "You shouldn't be so close to me, freak. I could kill you in an instant."

"Weren't you just begging me to kill you?"

"Oh, are you actually going to? Because as far as I know, you couldn't hurt a fly." 

Dipper looked up at him wearily. "You have tears on your face, Bill."

Bill blinked and fought the urge to wipe them off. Instead he broke into another too-many-teeth smile. "I've been laughing too much, it seems, kid. I find it positively _hilarious_ that you humans are still in existence."

"You've been crying, don't try to deny it." 

This was getting out of hand. Bill was hardly managing to keep up the facade of being fully _awake_ \- he was having a much harder time keeping his emotions in check and coming up with sarcastic and snarky responses. God, this kid was wearing him down. 

"I could've killed the whole town. I was about to, back there."

Dipper said nothing. 

"I was the cause for Stanley's amnesia."

Not a word.

"I was going to kill your sister. Shooting Star? I had my finger pointed and everything. How does-"

 _Finally!_ Dipper's tiny fist connected with his left temple and he immediately crumpled back to the ground. Dipper let out a sob and just kept going, kept hitting him. It wasn't doing any damage, and it hardly hurt, but Bill let him. 

With one last shaky gasp for air, Dipper let his fist fall back to his side. He looked down, and the top of his hat was covering his face in shadow as he trembled. Bill was still looking at him in anticipation from his sprawled-out position on the ground.

"Yeah. Yeah, you did. And you deserve to die! You ruined lives! You could've killed everyone! You hurt Mabel!" Dipper screamed, and he lunged at Bill again, tackling him and pulling something out of his vest- 

Oh.

Bill smirked as he saw the crossbow in Dipper's hands, pointed directly at his forehead. So the kid was a thief, too. Well, wonders don't lie. Fordsey would be upset about losing that treasure. _Leave my eyes alone!_ Bill inwardly laughed at the memory. 

Dipper was back to the bundle of nerves that Bill remembered from the beginning of the Summer, but there was strength, and something else behind it, too. That was a bit frightening. But at the moment, Bill couldn't summon the energy to care.

One way or another, he was a dead man. He was merely a shell of the man he was before.

"Shoot already," Bill snapped impatiently. 

And then Dipper was crawling back away from him, angrily stuffing the weapon back into his vest- (how did he even _fit_ that contraption in such a small space)- and Bill was left with the sinking realization that no, Dipper wasn't granting him a quick death, and yes, he would have to wait a while to find peace. 

"Coward." He muttered. 

Dipper looked up defiantly. "You're the coward, Cipher. You're the one who wants to die."

"Oh, please, kid. Enough with the drama. Being suicidal isn't cowardly- it's smart."

"You didn't want to die before."

"I hadn't _lost everything_ before!" Bill hissed. "Before this I was... I was a _god_ , I was something terrifying and beautiful and deadly; a demon, a monster. Now, look at me."

Dipper sent him a look at had something so akin to pity that Bill wanted to vomit. 

Pity from a human. A human child. 

What a mess. 

The boy gave him a long look. "But you're right. I am a coward. I can't kill you." After a moment he added, "It's what makes me human."

Bill raised an eyebrow. "And humans that kill other humans? Murderers? They're still human."

"There's a difference between _being_ human and being _a_ human." 

He didn't have an answer to that. 

Shortly after Dipper was standing up again and giving a long sigh. "You're right, though. You're just a human now, and I can't kill you. It looks like neither of us will get what we want today." 

When did the kid grow up?

He continued, beginning to walk back towards the town. "Hopefully sometime you'll realize that death isn't the way out, and that if you change who you are, you might enjoy life while it lasts. But remember that you hurt my family, and if you do it again, I _will_ stop you, whatever means necessary." 

And with a wave of 'goodbye', Dipper Pines had walked away. 

Bill still hadn't grown up.  
Bill wanted to mess around a bit more, maybe start another apocalypse or two, maybe infiltrate Stanley's mind, or get into Sixer's head again. But he had no doubt that Dipper was lying. He had been given a second chance.

Instead of taking it, Bill looked where Dipper had previously been, and then he started crying again. Crying because he couldn't grow up, and he would never grow up, and his big adventures were over. Gravity Falls had been saved and the strangeness of it had been washed away.

He looked toward the rising sun.

"I might be a human. But I'm definitely not human," He decided, feeling the ache in his bones. Bones he hadn't had in a long time. 

"The difference," He confirmed to himself.

"The difference." He echoed.


End file.
